Let’s start by defining the role of an influencer. An influencer is a person who stands out in social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YT, Tik Tok, Twitch) and has a significant quantity of followers.
This person is attributed with a certain authority and credibility on concrete topics and this becomes attractive for certain brands that want the messages about their product or service to reach their followers.
They are also perceived as a person with the ability to persuade and change the behavior and decisions of their audience. “Basically, it is an advanced and in-depth version of the word-of-mouth celebrity because they generate important and relevant information for the community, participate in conversations related to the theme and highlight it to spark opinions and reactions, and to increase brand awareness and reputation,” according to Angie Jiménez, VP of Operations at Extendo.
There is an expectation that by contracting an influencer, their brand has a positive impact on sales; however, no data or regulations exist on the effectiveness of this type of digital initiatives in Costa Rica. How can the results be verified then?
There is a form of measuring the traffic obtained on a brand’s website and in this way, quantifying the efforts generated by the influencers. To achieve this, three basic ingredients are required: website, Google Analytics or your preferred platform of digital measurement and your UTM link.
The UTM parameters (Urchin Tracking Module) are URL parameters that Google uses to measure the effectiveness of unique URL marketing campaigns. They can be generated directly from the Campaign URL Builder tool, and four essential fields must be completed to measure the traffic:
Website URL: website link placement, we recommend using the format
- Campaign Source: the site from which the influencer will refer to the brand or website is placed. There must be a single link per network.
- Campaign Medium: placing the word “influencer”.
- Campaign Name: name of the influencer.
By filing in these four points, the URL is generated and this link must be used by the influencer in every one of their posts.
To see the results of the influencer strategy, it is necessary to go to Google Analytics view and look for the source/medium report. In this report, the means by which users have entered the website can be observed and we can visualize the results of the traffic from the influencers’ campaigns.
This method of analysis becomes much more powerful, as we can see the number of conversions within the site which have been generated by users entering through our influencers’ campaigns.
What to take into account when selecting an influencer?
When it is time to choose an influencer, we need to answer the following questions:
- Is the influencer aligned with the values of the brand, product or business
- Do their followers meet the characteristics of our target audience?
- Can I coordinate with the influencer on the generation of content for my brand or product?
- Could this person participate in conversations on the specific topic?
- What is their ability to respond to reactions or the opinions of other users?
- Is it within my Budget? Assessing the potential investment to understand if the results obtained will cover the investment that you are going to make is recommended.
According to Socialmood, there are at least 4 types of influencers:
- nano: less than 10,000 followers
- micro: less than 100,000 followers but more than 10,000
- medio: less than 500.000 followers but more than 100,000
- macro: less than 1,000,000 followers but more than 500,000
- TOP or Celebrities: more than 1,000,000
In general, and as a good industry practice, this rule has been established to define the Price and to answer the question: How much does an influencer charge? $10 for every 1,000 followers, that’s to say that if I have 10,000 followers, I can charge $100. This is a base price, you can speak, negotiate and ask the influencer for options.
It may be that the brands or businesses look directly for them or through agencies that look for them as a means to bring messages to their followers. Generally they are sought for:
- their reach
- the way in which they approach the topic from an expert perspective
ability to communicate with their target audience and open a valuable dialogue with said audience - create messages-content that helps the brands to connect with their segments
What are the main errors that brands commit when they contract an influencer?
- They do not have a plan and improvise as an isolated effort will not result in success and ideally, a relationship is established with the influencer. It is not only a transaction, in other words, it is not only selling, but also establishing a long-term relationship with the audience and with the influencer.
- They do not sufficiently research the influencer, to investigate if their followers are aligned with the segmentation of the product and with the values and personality of the brand.
- They want to control the influencer’s message; they already know how to speak to their audience and for this reason it is important to research.
- They only focus on a number of followers and run it informally, often there is not even a formal document with the agreements and responsibilities of both sides.
- They do not measure results therefore they do not know the impact that their efforts have had and if they should continue or not.
